WIDEBAND ACOUSTO-OPTIC SPECTROMETER

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A HIGHLY STABLE 1 GHZ BANDWIDTH, 1 MHZRESOLUTION, 50 DB DYNAMIC RANGE ACOUSTO-OPTIC SPECTROMETER PACKAGED TO MEET SPACEBORNE ENVIRONMENTAL AND LIFETIME REQUIREMENTS. THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF WIDEBAND ACOUSTO-OPTIC SPECTROMETERS (OR RF CHANNELIZERS) IS DRIVEN BY AIRBORNE ELECTRONIC WARFARE APPLICATIONS WHERE SHORT PULSE DETECTION REQUIREMENTS NECESSITATE THE USE OF SPECIALIZED NON-INTEGRATING PHOTODETECTOR ARRAYS YIELDING COARSER FREQUENCY RESOLUTION, LOWER BANDWIDTH, AND LOWER DYNAMIC RANGE THAN THAT DESIRED FOR SPACEBORNE ASTRONOMICAL SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS. IN ADDITION, LONG TERM STABILITY IS NOT AN IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE PARAMETER. OUR APPROACH UTILIZES A LASER DIODE, AN INNOVATIVE WIDEBAND BRAGG CELL DESIGN, AND A HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE SELF-SCANNED INTEGRATING PHOTODETECTOR ARRAY ALL ASSEMBLED IN A MECHANICALLY AND THERMALLY STABILIZED PACKAGE TO MEET THE STABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS OF SPACEBORNE APPLICATIONS. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPECTROMETER DESIGN, INCLUDING COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND SELECTION, BRAGG CELL DESIGN, AND OPTICAL AND OPTOMECHANICALDESIGN AND ANALYSIS.